Toothbrush



1940. -T.' w. sEcsum TDOTHBRUSH Filed May 21, 1938 7 lap/Av h A- Y Patented Oct. 29, 1940' invention relates; to 4 the; general "art' of toothbrushes; and has areference more fiarti'du; lar ly to ar known type of: -tpothbrlish that ime ploys' a rubber E headtwith integralmubber. bristles.

Thistypeiof toothbrush possesses-numerous prac} tical advantages 5 over. the :comznon bristle tooth;- brush It does not scratch the surface enamel of the teeth; it .permits gum massage oi the most sensitive gums rwithout -lacer atlng;--or affecting the soft tissues-aroundthe teeth, it does not ree tain food-particles,- bacteria or infectious germs, is i highly durable. and not loseqits g cleansing power or effectiveness=:after' long. 115%,; :2Yet despitethe above *and other advantages which '1; possesses over the ordinary bristle; brush-.ithas n'otfso far as l 'am' aware, hitherto, met;wi thany appreciable amount of publiczfavondue,aglhehave, to poor'and ill designed;structural ;features 'whioh "severely' limit its usefulness for. itsiintended,

' The object or my: present inventionhasbeen to provide an improved'rubber toothbrushpossessing a high degree ofiefiectiveness .for: cleaning. and i)b1 ishi ng' tfie't'eetlijand which shall be thoroughly f sanitary' and capable bt-being easily cleansed and steamed, Anothei' object has been to provide -a toothbrushfiincluding a rubber 'head ands'a separahleihandle that'ii 'ay 'be enga'ged with "the head in differentways so as 1 to 'provide-Jstraight, cancave or convex" brushing surfa'cea as may be .pre-

may comprise "a plurality of specifically cdifferent heads and a single handle interchangeablexwith the several rhea 'dsso as to afford a2" considerable variety of differentfstylesy such as the=Dr.-':West

yle, the' sol-called Denti s tsi straight s'tyle; etc. :E' 1 Still other-"bjfcts' ahd attendant advantages 10:? the; invention will be apparent-V to: persons skilled in "the? artf'froin the olllowlng detafled description taken inf connection with the l'accom- 'panying' drawihgwherein lhav' illustrated forms {of the invention f eniployin'gspeciflcally different ,5 heads 'using' a eonmion handle; 'and inwhich -s.

Ting on itslbackande'hipidying the form oft-rubf herihead 'shown'flin :51- '31 c Fig. 2is a perspective viwbf the handle; I:

1 g n sidelevati'on showing the 'he'admf Fig." 7 associated; with the 'ha'ndle in one position r thelatterl Fig. 4 is a. view similar to Fig. 3 showing the same head associated with the handle in the v I inverted position of the latter.

v Referring Figi,1 is"a plan viewfof thebiush shownYas'ly- I .i acent prongs in each transverserow are con- Atlanta straits/=12:

11$ fa longmidmal sect on through the ed @dii'eldablildclid thereinfi fragmentary [view of the handle 'rig'. s a age elevation 6r thehead s' qw'ri' m figs 1 '3aridjg4, which, for'conveniencejof dehallghereinajfter refer to as the A Figs. 8 and 9 are enlarge ross-,sectionsfl on the .lines-;8 j 8 and 9- 9 respc vely of'Fi l3 .fkflf g. 101 s'ide'jelevati fa thirdiform of hbaehi aia con e. .herina iml a er s. is? 1 1a l V iilventionil- 1,ustrated-yin- Figs; 1, ,to 9; inclusive, the A head za'showna therein; comprises a;- mounting for backing .1 20 ,of:.;fl ei5ib le,,. vulcanized rubber 1; that I carries ;on sits uppersurface a;pl urality, oi anding prongs :1 i that; arebreferably arranged in longitudinal and; .;transverse rows.- In ,Ijig', ,1 I 'show" three -.parallel-:Jongitudlnal rows oi prongs iand {ten .transvei'sezrowst All :of the'prongslin the twooutsi'de rows and eight of the. prongs in egmter- "mediate-row" are tapered von their front and-tear sides so as to present un -their free ends narrow "rand practical line: tips 22 (Fig. 9) that lie crosswlse fof the headtw It will also-be a observed by '-rei'erenc'e -to:::Flg'..'9c that the-other two 'sidestof 'the prongs are 'slightlyl tapered so that the open-' --in g's=be tween adjacenhprong's in both: the -longi- "'tudii' 'al' and' transverse; rows are-widest; at. the outef'or free ends or theiprongs; This greatly iacilitates theexpulsion from the brush'of. mat-. iter jthat may "collect between the prongs during eiuse i the brui'sh, and 'renders"th'e subse lea mg an'd sterilizing'of-the brush-very mpleflAl sog-the base portions of'adhe head end of the las JW- Pr A ti med a e :lp ifldm l r w a in ai v'hlt placedlabir; iq rgvp nss itthatj fsmfi a the 'Fothe'r: prongs except they are; turned to {an angle 0t degrees so that they present narrow line tips 25- (Fig. 8) lying lengthwise of'the head;

These auxiliary prongs 24 are functionally us ful, ll

head 0 backing; fsliowing' the'tnon of *the ha ndle aevn l win dw ft amibe 5 ner shown in Fig. 11, the'head i's flexed down.-

, wardly, bringing; the "tips of the prongs; into in cleaning the cracks between adjacent front 1 teeth, applying the brush vertically to the teeth.

The A head above described, as well asxthe C head to be later described, is useful when permanently mounted on any ordinary'handle. But to enlarge the capacity and usefulness of the brush, 1 preferably associate it with a removable handle such'ias that shown in ,Ii'ig. ;2, thev same comprising a handlepr'oper 26 and a longitudinally curved tenon 2] continuous with one end of the handle 26 and adapted to enter a longitudinal socket such as the socket 28 formed the mounting or backing of head A. -By refer ence to Fig. 7, it will be observed that the socket 28 of the unflexed head is straight butis inclined downwardly and forwardly from its neck endrel-g -atively to a straight line connecting the bases of the front and rear prongs. It will also be ob.- served that the, tips of thewprongs 2| lie in a concave plane. Now,,when;the"tenon of the hen-.- die 16 is inserted into'the socket of head A'g'as shown inFig. 3, the, head is so flexed that the tips of the prongs lie in aiiatfor horizontal plane.

But when thehandle i's inverted and-theri'ineserted into thesarne socket "in the manner shown in Fig. '4}. the, head is flexed in the re ye rse' direction and the tips of the prongs lie in a concave plane more pronounced than=the concave plane oi theqhead when the latter is s parat'ed froin thejfiindle. if V t ,F gs w. 11, and 12 show the C head'and its apara'tea from the handle, the tips ofits prongs lie in a slightly convex plane, as shown in Fig: 10, landithe' longitudinal socket Q8 of the unfiexed head is inclined upwardly and forwardly from its neck end relatively to astraightjline'connecting the bases of the front and rear prongs. f

When the handle tenonis inserted in'the man- 'a flat, horizontafplaneyand whenthe handle iis inverted and its teno'nin'slerted," thehead is flexed upwardly and its forward portion" is prongs into a downwardly and:forwardly'pitched lated in ,sizeto thesockets ,of the heads that it thrown downwardly,- bringing the" tips'of the convex'plane, sirnulatingwh'at is known as the Dr. West" type of brush head; Theform shown in Fig 4 presents what is known asthe .Pro-' phylactic"- type of headfwhile the*forms shown in Figs: 3 and 11 presentwh'at 115 known as the Dentists-type of. head. i

It will thusb'eseen that the invention, when employing onlya single head, Iaifords tWOydif-r ferent types or styles of-headbymerelyinvert- 'ing the handle relatively to the: head.. And where 'a plurality "of specifically diflerent heads,

, such 85 heads A and C, are; associated with. a "single handle a-"larger varietyof styles of head is obtainable. AwThertenon 21 ofthe handle 26 maybeso rewill have a sufiiciently tight 1 frictional engage-.- ,ment to insure thecoopera tionlof the he'adhnd handle when using? .the' brush; but,'.' todnsure against the handle pullingout durlng-the use of the brush, I preferably provide a yieldable' i This 1551mm F s-find wherein, he s d mi wall of the' rece'ss'ofthe head is pro- 'yidedfwithan integral button? 2!, and the tenon "21-is'split'longitudinallyas shown at 3| ands-near its freevend is formed with opposed notches 3| which, under a relative inward thrust of the,

handle and head, snap over and grip the button 29,,the engagement being eflected partly by the stretching of the side walls of the recess and partly by the compression of the button. This insures against separation 'of the handle and head whenthe brush is-being used, but permits a ready'separation of said .parts to'change the 'forrn'.of the brush or for cleaning and sterilizing the parts.

The handle may, of course, be formed of any suitable or adaptable material, but 1 preferably use therefore, material known under the trade "name Baltic, which consists of a semi-hard rubber fiber mixture thatwill stand a boiling temperature substantially above that required for ordinary sterilizing purposes.

While I have herein shown and described practical and preferred embodiments ofthe principle ofthe invention, Ido'not limit the latter to the speciflcyforms and materials hereinabove speci-' fied but reserve. all 'such variations, modifica- .'tions and" mechanical equivalents a'sifall within thespirit and purview, "of the claims.

fI claim: v '1.-A toothbrush of the class .ti escribed, comprisinga flexible rubber head having inits-un-' 'fle'xed form integral scrubbingprongs the tips of which'from end to end of the head lie in a "curved plane, said head formed with astraight longitudinal socket inclined" relatively .to' a straight line connecting the basesqof'the front and rear prongs, a handle having-continuous .with one end thereof a. longitudinally curved tenon insertibl'e either side up into said socket, .and' cooperating means on saidv head and tenon for yieldably locking. the former to; the -ilatter adapted to interlock with each other undera relative inward thrust on, said head andhandle.

2. A toothbrush-of the.cla ss described, comprising a flexible rubber head having in its uniiexed form integral/scrubbing prongs the tips 'of which from end to, end of, the head lie in a concave plane said head formed with a straight longitudinal socket inclined. downwardly and; for- Iwardly from its neck end=relatively to a straight line connecting {the bases'ofthe front and-rear pro'ng's, a handle having continuous with one endthereof' a longitudinally curved tenon insertible either side .upintosaid socket, and. cooperating means onsaid-headand tenon .i'or yieldably locking the formerto the latter adapted ,to interlock with each other under a relative in a ward thrust on said head and handle... I

3. A-toothbrush of the class describedLcorn-r prising a flexible rubber head havingin-its' unficxed form-integral scrubbing prongs the tips of which fromend to. end of. the head lie ina straight longitudinal socket; inclined upwardly .and forwardly fromits-neck-end relatively toa straight linegconnecting the basesof the front and; rear prongs, 'a handle. having continuous *withone end thereof .;a ;.long itudinally curved tenon insertible either sideup into said socket, and 'cooperating'means on said head and tenon for yieldably locking-the formerv to. the latter ative inward thrust on saidheadand handle.

, slightly convex plane, saidheadforrned with a '6 adapted to interlock with each other under. a rel- I 

